Qatar’s Al Fulk Warship Captain Reveals Weapons, Missions and Power.

Qatar used DIMDEX 2026 in Doha to spotlight Al Fulk (L141), a modern amphibious warship designed for troop lift, aviation operations, and missile defense. The ship highlights how Gulf navies are adapting to contested maritime environments shaped by missiles, drones, and regional instability.

DIMDEX 2026 in Doha gave the Qatar Emiri Naval Forces a highly visible stage to present Al Fulk (L141) as a working instrument of national maritime power. Displayed to delegations and industry visitors at Hamad Port under the event’s visiting warships program, the amphibious transport dock drew attention for a simple reason: it embodies Qatar’s shift from coastal security toward a fleet designed to sustain operations, move forces, and command complex missions at sea. In an on-site Defense Web TV interview recorded during the show, Al Fulk’s commanding officer details the vessel’s concept of operations, outlining how its design and combat systems enable it to support joint activity while remaining credible in an air and missile threat environment.
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Qatar's Al Fulk (L141) amphibious transport dock combines strategic sealift, helicopter operations, and self-defense air and missile protection, enabling the Qatar Emiri Naval Forces to deploy troops, vehicles, and supplies, support joint and humanitarian missions, and operate as a command platform in contested maritime environments (Picture source: Army Recognition Group).

Built in Italy by Fincantieri and delivered to Qatar in late 2024, Al Fulk represents the apex of Qatar’s 2016 naval acquisition program, which paired a large amphibious ship with modern surface combatants and patrol vessels to create a balanced force package rather than a collection of standalone hulls. The ship is an enhanced development of the Italian San Giusto lineage, retaining the core amphibious architecture while adding a markedly upgraded combat system and sensors for air and missile defense tasks. At 142.9 meters overall with a 21.5 meter beam and around 8,800 tons displacement, Al Fulk sits in the sweet spot between classical landing platform docks and larger landing helicopter docks, optimized for Gulf operating patterns where endurance, rapid reaction, and command-and-control are decisive.

From a naval operations perspective, the ship’s most consequential attribute is flexibility in how it generates combat power. A full-length flight deck and aviation facilities allow sustained helicopter operations for vertical lift, maritime security, and over-the-horizon movement of troops and supplies, with capacity to operate NH90-class aircraft and support multiple sorties in a day when sea state and deck cycle permit. Below decks, the amphibious design centers on a vehicle-capable garage accessed by ramps and a floodable well deck for launching and recovering landing craft, giving Qatar options ranging from discreet littoral insertion to heavy logistics support for land forces. In practical terms, that means Al Fulk can deliver protected mobility assets, engineering equipment, and sustainment loads to austere ports or directly to the shoreline, while also serving as a forward staging base for evacuation operations, humanitarian response, and maritime interdiction support.

Propulsion and range figures point to a ship built for operational persistence rather than short ceremonial sorties. Twin diesel propulsion delivers a top speed of around 20 knots and a cruising range on the order of 7,000 nautical miles at 15 knots, enabling long-duration deployments without constant reliance on nearby bases. For a small but high-value fleet, this matters. Endurance expands the decision space for commanders, allowing Al Fulk to loiter as a command node, reposition quickly to support a crisis response, or act as the backbone of a sea line-of-communications security mission.

Al Fulk’s design breaks with the traditional assumption that amphibious ships must be escorted for survival. The vessel is equipped with a primary anti-missile system with full anti-tactical ballistic missile capability, enabled by a multi-band radar architecture and the B1NT interceptor, aligning the ship’s combat system with modern layered defense concepts rather than legacy point defense alone. This is the feature that changes the calculus for Gulf naval task groups. Instead of contributing only lift and logistics, Al Fulk can also function as a protective umbrella platform in certain scenarios, reinforcing the air-defense posture of accompanying corvettes and providing an additional sensor and engagement node during high-tempo operations. Its gun armament and remote weapon systems further support close-in defense against asymmetric surface threats and low-flying targets typical of confined waters.

The Defense Web TV interview adds the human layer that technical brochures omit. The commanding officer’s remarks emphasize day-to-day operational realities, including flight deck tempo, mission planning for mixed loads of vehicles and personnel, and the ship’s role as a command platform that can synchronize air, surface, and landing elements in compressed timelines. Taken together, Al Fulk signals a strategic shift in how Qatar intends to employ maritime power, moving from coastal defense toward a modern, networked force able to project support ashore, sustain joint operations, and operate under the same air and missile threat conditions shaping naval planning from the Red Sea to the Strait of Hormuz.